Supporting tube for textile threads



i i I l i May 2, 1961 R. SIBILLE SUPPORTING TUBE FOR TEXTILE THREADSA Filed Feb. 12, 1957 Arrzi,

United, Se@ Patent O SUPPORTING TUBE FOR TEXTILE THREADS Ren Sbille, Paris, France, assignor to Papeteries Rene Slbllle Pont-Eveque user France a comm-anon of f 'Y tageous to provide a plurality of deformable tubes in thisv France Filed Feb. 12, 1957, Ser. No. 639,710

Claims priority, application France Feb. 16, 1,956

s Claims. (ci. 24a-118.2) Y

The present invention relates to supporting tubes for textile threads which are intended to be wound on to the said tubes for conditioning prior to shrinking.

It is in fact known that certain threads, especially those made from synthetic fibres, are capable of shrink-4 ing within varying limits (5 to 50% for example) and must be stabilised by shrinking before being delivered to users, in order no longer to be subject to dimensional alterationsin subsequent use. Present supporting tubes intended for this treatment have serious disadvantages; they generally consist of a single tube which is either deformable or rigid. In the first case, the tube becomes deformed under the pressure exerted by the threads during shrinkage, and assumes a completely irregular shape, which hinders the unwinding or axial removal ofthe thread from the tube. In the second case, the turns of the thread indirect contact with, or in the vicinity of, the rigid tube cannotv shrink, and shrinkage of the thread is consequently not uniform throughout its length. This makes the unshrunk portions of the thread resistant to coloring during dyeing, which is arserious fault, and produces waste and inferior products. Furthermore, the differentvlongitudinal portions of the thread have different coefficients of resistance, elasticity and stretch.

The present invention avoids these disadvantages, and relates for this purpose to a supporting tube allowing both uniform shrinkage of the Vthread throughout its, entire length, and easy unwinding or axial removal of the thread from the tube after shrinking.

The supporting tube, in accordance with the invention, comprises a rigid internal tube and at least one deformable tube of internal diameter greater than the external diameter of the rigid tube, andtted co axially around the latter, an empty cylindrical space thus being left between them, the deformable tube being maintained cof axial with respect to the rigid tube by inwardly extending reentrant ends of the outer tube. Y

The arrangement according to the invention allowsthe centripetal pressure due to shrinkage of the thread to shrink the deformable tube uniformly, nally bringing it into contact with the internal tube. If the spacing between the two tubes is adapted to the known shrinkage of the treated thread, the whole length of the thread is subjected to constant shrinkage. Furthermore, the fact that the deformable tube is supported at both ends imparts a certain degree of elasticity tothe wall of the said tube, and this, in conjunction with the fact that the two tubes remain centred, allows the supporting tube to retain its cylindrical shape after shrinkage, the deformable tube remainng expanded in the region of the reentrant ends does not rub against any roughened surface same spindles which were previouslyv used for winding the thread.

If the treated thread shrinks by a large amount, the provision of a single deformable tube would ,involve excessive spacing thereof from the internal tube, and would thus make the assembly fragile. It is therefore advancase, the several tubes being of increasing diameters, co y axially fitted over one another, and` kept centred with respect to the common axis of the assembly in the same u yrespect to the rigid tube'.

The Vinvention is applicable to conical and truncated conical tubes as well as to cylindrical tubes. Y y

The following Vdescription will allow the invention to be better understood with reference to the attached drawings, given solely by way of example, wherein:

Fig. l is a partially cut-away plan view of a supporting tube embodying the invention before the. thread has shrunk;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the tube after the thread has shrunk;

Fig. 3 is similar toFig. 1, showing two deformable tubes. Y g Fig. 4 is similar to Fig'. 1, the inner and outer tubes being of frusto-conical shape.

According to the embodiment shown ,in Figs. 1 and 2, the supporting tube comprises a rigid or inner tube 1 and a deformable external or outer tube 2. both being cylindrical, and mounted co-axially with respect to the longitudinal A axis XX. The internal diametergof the deformable outer in the course of its removal, which can be very rapidly tube 2 is larger than the external diameter of the rigid inner tube 1, an empty cylindrical space thus being left between these two tubes. The inner tube 1 can be formed of any suitable material, such as paper, provided that its thickness is suflicient for it to be rigid, or it can be made o f metal, plastic material, laminated material etc. The outer tube 2`can be made of any deformable material, such as paper, plastic material etc. The tube 2 is kept centred with respect to the tube 1 by spacing means provided at both ends.

In the presently-described embodiment, said spacing means consist of the radially inwardly extending reentrant ends 3 rolled towards the interior of the outer tube 2, the reentrant ends 3 Vbeing secured by cementing them to the external surface of the tube 1. It will thus be seen that a cylindrical space 4 of uniform crosssection is defined between the two tubes.Y f

The tube according to the invention is used in the following manner: an unshrunk shrinkable thread is wound on the deformable external tube 2 with the aid of any suitable winding machine, the rigid Vinner tube 1 being placed on a spindle for this purpose; once the thread has been wound on, the bobbin thus produced is subjected to a shrinking treatment, which generally consists in steaming in a suitable chamber, an autoclave or other suitable appliance capable of providing temperatures regulated in accordance with the properties of the threads to be treated. The thread shrinks, and constricts the external tube 2, whereof the wall has a certain degree of elasticity because it is held at both ends 3.

When shrinking is finished, the outer tube 2 is caused, as illustrated in Fig. 2, to bear uniformly against the inner tube 1, except at both ends 3, where the reentrant rolled ends 3 form two smooth annular ridges which hold the bobbin against axial displacement. The only Ynoticeable damage to the outer tube 2 consists in a Vfew longitudinal creases or wrinkles such as 5, which do not hinder removal of the thread. The subsequent thread removal is in fact very simple, whether it involves removing the thread axially of the tube (there'being no roughness capable of jamming the thread), or unwindin'g,y

3 the deformable tube having effectively retained its original cylindrical shape. lt should be noted that thread unwinding can be effected on the same spindles that were used for winding the thread, the rigid tube 1 having retained its original diameter.

The supporting tube of the invention allows the thread to be uniformly shrunk, the internal turns having been able to shrink to the same degree as the external turns. It can furthermore be adapted to any shrinkable textile fibre to be treated, whereof the percentage of shrinking is known. In fact, the maximum percentage of shrinking x, permitted by the supporting tube according to the invention is given by the formula:

where D is the initial external diameter of the deformable tube, d is the external diameter of the rigid tube, and e is the wall thickness of the deformable tube. The ratio of the diameters d and D will therefore vary as a function of the particular degrees of shrinkage of the different threads, the simplest method for this purpose being to have a single size of rigid tube 1 and a number of different sizes of deformable tubes 2. However, when the threads shrink by a very large amount, the spacing between the internal and external tubes would be too great for regular deformation of the external tube, which would then be liable to be crushed in an irregular manner. It is therefore preferable in this case, as illustrated in Fig. 3, to provide a plurality of superposed deformable tubes of increasing diameter, two for example, such as tubes 2a and 2b, the outer deformable tube 2b being kept centred by its reentrant ends 3b in the same manner as is the tube 2a with respect to the internal rigid tube 1.

In a modified embodiment of the invention, the inner and outer tubes may be of frusta-conical shape as shown in Fig. 4.

The advantages provided by the supporting tube of the invention, which is very simple to manufacture, are more particularly the following:

(a) Complete and constant shrinkage of all fibres, wherever they may belocated round the supporting tube;

(b) Increased production because thread removal can be effected at the higher speeds possible on modern looms, which leads to economy and profitable use of labour;

(c) Elimination of a workshop process each time shrinking is carried out at the last stage of thread formation, the properties and condition of the support after treatment being such that there `is no need to transfer the thread to another support before dispatch to the users.

Having now described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. Supporting tube for textile threads which are subsequently shrunk thereon, consisting of a rigid internal tube, a number of deformable tubes having au increasing cross section which is larger than that of the rigid tube, said deformable tubes being fitted coaxially with respect to one another and with respect to the rigid internal tube and having each a continuous wall, and spacing means disposed between the ends of each deformable tube and the corresponding ends of the tube disposed immediately thereunder so as to keep each deformable tube centred with respect to the axis of the rigid tube and spaced from the tube immediately thereunder, the space between each deformable tube and the tube immediately thereunder being of constant width throughout the extent of the two last-mentioned tubes to permit a uniform deformation of each deformable tube upon the shrinkage of said threads.

2. Supporting tube for textile threads which are subsequently shrunk thereon, consisting of a rigid internal tube, a number of deformabletubes having an increasing cross-section, which is larger than that of the rigid tube, said deformable tubes being fitted coaxiallywith respect to one another and with respect to the rigid internal tube, each of said deformable tubes having a continuous wall and edges rolled toward the interior of the tube, said rolled edges being cemented to the tube disposed irnmediately thereunder so as to keep each deformable tube centred with respect to the axis of the rigid tube and spaced from the tube immediately thereunder, the space between each deformable tube and the tube immediately thereunder being of constant width throughout the extent of the two last-mentioned tubes to permit a uniform deformation of each deformable tube upon the shrinkage of said threads.

3. A series of deformable tubes having an increasing cross-section fitted co-axially with respect to one another, each of said tubes having a continuous Wall, and spacing means which are disposed at the ends of each deformable tube and keep the deformable tubes centred with respect to their common axis and spaced from one another, the space between each of said tubes and the tube immediately thereunder being of constant width throughout the extent of the two last-mentioned tubes, said series of deformable tubes being adapted to be fitted on to a rigid internal tube having a smaller external cross-section than the internal cross-section of the innermost deformable tube, thereby constituting a supporting tube for textile threads which are subsequently shrunk thereon, the snacing means of the innermost deformable tube holding the series of deformable tubes spaced with respect to the rigid tube in such manner that the axis of said rigid tube coincides with the common axis of the deformable tubes, the space between said innermost deformable tube and said rigid tube being of constant width throughout the extent of said two last-mentioned tubes.

4. A series of deformable tubes having an increasing cross-section fitted co-axially with respect to one another, each of said deformable tubes having a continuous wall and the edges of each deformable tube being rolled toward the interior and cemented to the ends of the deformable tube immediately thereunder so as to keep the deformable tubes centred with respect to their common axis and spaced from one another, the space between each of said tubes and the tube immediately thereunder being of constant width throughout the extent of the two last-mentioned tubes, said series of deformable tubes being adapted to be fitted on to a rigid internal tube having a smaller external cross-section than the internal cross-section of the innermost deformable tube, thereby constituting a supporting tube for textile threads which are subsequently shrunk thereon, wherein the rolled edges the innermost deformable tube hold the series of deformable tubes spaced with respect to the rigid tube in such a manner that the axis of said rigid tube coincides with the common axis of the deformable tubes, the space between said innermost deformable tubeand said rigid tube being of constant width throughout the extent of said two last-mentioned tubes.

5. A supporting tube for textile threads, comprising: a deformable outer tube having radially inwardly extending reentrant ends, a rigid inner tube coaxial with said outer tube, said inner tube being secured to said outer tube at the inner surfaces of said reentrant ends, said outer tube, prior to deformation, being adapted to have a bobbin of unshrunk shrinkable thread wound thereon. said outer tube, prior to the shrinking of said thread, being spaced from said inner tube intermediate said reentrant ends. said reentrant ends, after the shrinking of said shrinkable thread, forming smooth annular ridges Which hold said bobbin against axial movement on said outer tube.'

6. A tube according to claim 5, wherein said inner and outer tubes are of cylindrical configuration.

7. A tube according to claim 5, wherein said inner and outer tubes are of frusto-conical configuration.

8. A supporting tube for textile threads, comprising: a Adeformable outer tube having radially inwardly extending reentrant ends, a rigid inner tube coaxial with said outer tube, `said inner tube being secured to said outer tube at the inner surfaces of said reentrant ends, said outer tube, prior to deformation, being ad-apted to have a bobbin of unshrunk shrinkable thread wound thereon, said outer tube, prior to the shrinking of said thread, being spaced from said inner tube intermediate said reentrant ends, said reentrant ends, after the shrinking of said shrinkable thread, forming annular ridges which hold said bobbin `against axial movement on said outer tube, the dimensional relationship between the diameters of said inner tube and said outer tube being in accordance with the following formula:

where x is the maximum percentage of shrinking of the shrinkable thread permitted by the rigid inner tube; D is the `initial external diameter of the deformable outer tube; d is the external diameter of the rigid inner tube; and e is the Wall thickness of the outer tube.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

